Dive Brief:

• The battle lines are starting to be drawn as to who should pay the roughly $1 billion to clean up Duke Energy's 33 coal ash basins in North Carolina: customers or shareholders.
• Details on Duke's coal ash strategy are expected to emerge by March 15 when the company is slated to provide the state with internal documents on options for handling the coal ash ponds, which are leaching into groundwater.
• Duke CEO Lynn Good said she expects the utility's customers to pay for removing and dealing with the ash. The North Carolina Utilities Commission will ultimately decide who pays for the cleanup.

Dive Insight:

Duke has avoided dealing with its coal ash basins for years. Company shareholders may now be on the hook for at least some of the cleanup bill because the company didn't take a proactive approach to the issue.